Automakers are adding more vehicles to their lists of vehicles subject to the Takata airbag recall.
Automakers are fleshing out their roll call of vehicles impacted by the expanded Takata airbag recall in the U.S. and Fiat Chrysler added 4.5 million vehicles to its tally. The total number vehicles being recalled is 33.8 million.
FCA’s recall, which is 5.22 million vehicles worldwide, involves the 2003 to 2011 model years. Most of the vehicles have been involved in previous recall campaigns, the automaker said.
Eleven automakers in the U.S. are part of the Takata airbag recall. While the total number of vehicles impacted remains unchanged, the automakers are figuring out what specific models in their line-up are impacted.
As they determine what vehicles have the faulty airbags, they’re adding them to their company-specific lists. The airbags can over-inflate and explode in some instances sending pieces of shrapnel into the vehicle’s cabin. The airbags have been tied to six deaths and more than 100 injuries around the world.
(Takata officials expected to be grilled at Congressional hearing. For more, Click Here.)
Ford added another 1.38 million vehicles in the U.S. Other automaker’s expanding their recalls include:
- Honda expanded its recall by 350,000 in the United States and 340,000 in Japan.
- BMW moved from 140,696 vehicles to 420,661.
- Mitsubishi Motors grew to 82,784.
Not every automaker is adding to its list. Nissan informed federal officials it did not plan to expand its list of U.S. recalls.
(Click Here for details Takata issuing the largest recall in U.S. history.)
Some estimates suggest it will take five years to repair the affected vehicles. When the number was just half that, the expectation was two years and this was after Takata had doubled production and enlisted some of its competitors to build replacements.
NHTSA just filed legal paperwork compelling Takata and the affected automakers to develop a plan to expedite the process. However, if Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx doesn’t like the plan, he can reject it and implement one of his own.
(To see more about NHTSA applying pressure to speed up airbag recall, Click Here.)
The agency ultimately plans to oversee the recall process. It is part of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act, or TREAD Act, which became law in 2000 in the wake of the recall of Ford Explorer SUVs.